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Friday, June 19, 2015

SEA Games: Letter to The Straits Times: Organising large events no easy task

My letter to The
Straits Times on the above matter is published today, Friday 19th
June 2015.

I
fully empathise with the unhappiness expressed by many sports enthusiasts who purchased
tickets to support the SEA Games closing ceremony, but were denied entry due to
overcrowding (“Why were ticket-holders denied entry?” by Mr Adrian Ho Kok Wai
and “Ticket-holders given the runaround, denied entry” by Ms Yan Liping; Forum
Online, both published yesterday).

While Team Singapore has done us proud and given us the best performance so
far, wining 84 gold, 73 silver and 102 bronze medals, the memorable event was
marred by poor organisational skills. The public address system broke down and
the oversale of tickets caused much displeasure among many Singaporeans.

Often front-liners are on the receiving end of frustrations when things go
wrong. However, organising major events on a large scale is certainly no easy
task. Even if one is highly academically qualified, if you are not equipped
with a wealth of experience, you can easily fumble.

Therefore, it is imperative that experienced event planners or retired public
service officers who have hands-on experience in organising events on a large
scale are invited to sit on committees in charge of planning large-scale events.

There should be a detailed checklist and a contingency plan in place. After the event is over, the main organising
committee should conduct a post-mortem to address problems such that future
events are handled better.